ccording to its leaders,
Epsilon is dedicated
to creating innovative
brand, marketing and
business strategies that
drive creative platforms to help customers make better, more confident
healthcare decisions.

“We connect brands to customers
by delivering experiences that matter,”
executives say. “We do this by helping
clients see things that others don’t and
doing things that others can’t.”

2015 was a path of transformation for
Epsilon as the global marketing company moved from an agency grounded in
database marketing and CRM to a digital agency focused on harnessing data,
technology, and creative to connect
brands to patients in a more intimate
manner, executives say.

On the data and insights front, the
agency launched its first Physician
Digital Engagement Network (PDEN),
which offers rich data encompassing
HCP’s engagements through e-mail,
web, and social media as well as their
network connection and everyday digital life. According to Epsilon leaders,
PDEN enables actionable insights consolidated over multiple brands allowing
for a more efficient personalized communications strategy.

“We’re also combining 1:1 decisioningand intelligent media delivery with cam-paign management and performancemeasurement specifically for healthcaremarketers to drive more empoweredconsumers through precision targetingand engagement,” executives say. “Ad-ditionally, Epsilon is standing up an-alytic environments that are cognitivedecision engines for our clients. Brandsknow exactly what content and messag-ing to offer by cohort based on exactlywhere that patient is in their journey.Our partnership with Adobe and oth-ers allows us to deliver on omnichannelmarketing which extends beyond directmail and email to include site, mobile,live channels, content, and media.”Additionally, Epsilon was selectedby Shire to build, host, and manage aconsolidated database of consumer andhealthcare professional informationthat will enable improved and more ef-fective communication in the U.S. andaround the world, executives say.

The healthcare agency is part of a
broader Epsilon agency network that
extends its 1-to-1 agency services into
broader initiatives such as TV, grassroots marketing, media, multicultural,
events, and retail and shopper marketing services.

“While Epsilon is known for large
scale enterprise services, we have a CRM
platform and digital technology group
that provides focused and scalable services in support of brand efforts,” executives say. Services include UX, site
design, content management platforms
and digital production in support of
consumer and professional efforts.

In addition, the agency’s Live Channels group provides call center and
customer services support with the
goal of cultivating brand-to-human
interactions through the personal
touch. Services include contact center
optimization, dialogic marketing support, social/mobile engagement and
call center training.

“We have a single charter: To help our
clients see things others don’t and do
things others can’t,” executives say. “All
with the single goal of allowing our clients to connect with their customers.

“How will we accomplish this? Bycombining data, technology and cre-ative to help healthcare marketers’ de-liver omnichannel marketing and en-gagement campaigns of the future.”According to Epsilon leaders, mul-tichannel marketing of the near-futurewill be completely different becausetoday the customer experience is theessence of messaging and not neces-sarily what the brand dictates. “We arefocused on ensuring we can help meetclient needs by offering world-classtechnology that creates actionable in-sights on the large amount of data avail-able,” executives say. “The wearablesmarket will make the omnichannelenvironment even more complicated– and healthcare marketers need to beready to react. Patients are no longercontent to merely have informationabout their health, they also want to betold what it means and any next stepsthey should be taking. Wearable devicesand biometric data will have a bigger in-fluence on the strategies that are a corepart of health and wellness and diseasemanagement programs.”With the introduction of GoogleCardboard, and the release of the Sam-sung Gear Virtual Reality (VR), agencyleaders expect to see the introductionof many more VR apps with a focus oneducation and adherence. By creatingVR apps that explain the mode of ac-tion for a therapy area, patients maybetter understand the treatment jour-ney and improve their compliance. Vi-suals, video, and snackable content willplay a much bigger role in content dis-tribution, leadership says.

Additionally, executives point out how
healthcare policymakers and payers are
increasingly mandating what doctors
can prescribe. Pharma marketing to
professionals will embrace the core principles of B2B marketing where selling is
at the account level. Pharma will need
to identify all the decision makers and
influencers at the IDN or ACO level and
coordinate communication across all
the many decision makers. Healthcare
payers are measuring the pharmacoeco-nomic performance of different medicines. A widespread use of electronic
medical records will give them the data
they need to insist on outcomes-based
pricing. Pharma will be collecting and
using data with end-points in mind that
move beyond measuring incremental
NRX and TRX volume. Analytics will
be far more sophisticated and alliances
with EMR platforms will be much closer, according to executives.

To guide speci;c philanthropic decisions and events, Epsilon organized a
committee called Epsilon Community
Outreach (ECO) to give back to the local communities its associates live and
work in. ECO is fully managed and run
by a group of volunteer associates. Not
only do they sponsor and plan local
events, but they also review and approve donation requests from our associate population, executives say.

“We also give in other ways,” executives say. “Whether it is a donation to
a cause one of our client’s is passionate
about, sponsoring an evening dinner at
a soup kitchen, or one of our many other
efforts, we believe that part of being successful means also giving back.

“At Epsilon, we view giving as being about more than donating money.

Building a relationship to a cause or acommunity is an aspect of corporate lifethat many of our associates find deeplyrewarding. It allows us to bridge bound-aries across the world, knowing that atour core, we are all humans with a com-mon goal: building a life with dignityand meaning.” medadnewscategoryone – agencies with income of more than $50 million